
Book 'S.!jaJ> ..... 



Author. 



Title. 



Imprint 



m—mnefr-i «po 






REMARKS ON 



"THE MISTAKES mmL 

BY H. L. HASTDms^ iQQO 

Editor of "The Chris*a^B &fetai. 1 O * "JP^ 1 .» 




Some skeptics have much to say 
of Moses." Let us refer to a few 
their researches seem to have overlooked. 

Moses, after he was eighty years of age, emancipated 
and organized a captive nation, leading an army of six 
hundred thousand men for forty years through the wil- 
derness of Sinai to the borders of their inheritance, giv- 
ing them a law so full of these so-called "mistakes" that 
this one nation, which has partly observed it, has existed 
for more than thirty-three centuries in a warring and 
tumultuous world, outliving all the empires, nations, and 
tongues which then existed on the face of the earth, wit- 
nessing the downfall of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, 
Greece, and Rome ; and though scattered for ages because 
of their sins, among all nations, from one end of the 
earth to the other, finding neither ease nor rest, but hav- 
ing a trembling heart, and fainting of eyes, and sorrow 
of mind, and fearing-day and night, having none assur- 
ance of life ( Deut. xxviii.), yet this nation still exists, as 
numerous, perhaps, as in its palmiest days ; and though 
without a country, a city, a government, a priesthood, or 
a temple, it yet wields on earth an influence greater than 
that exercised by all the empires and nations of antiquity, 
combined. Is such a result due to Moses' " mistakes "? 
Copyright, H. L. Hastings 1882.] (3) [All Rights Reserved. 



1 w^ 



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.51 

The investigators of "the mistakes of Moses" might 
well consider the system of sanitary science embodied in 
Moses' law, so unlike anything which the world had ever 
seen, and which the civilization of the nineteenth century 
is still too ignorant to appreciate, though observers begin 
to note its results as indicated in the superior 

HEALTH AND LONGEVITY OF THE JEWISH NATION. 

If we take a thousand Jews and a thousand Gentiles, 
as a basis of computation, we may divide them into four 
parts ; one-fourth of them comprehending those who die 
in early years ; one-half, those who attain to middle life; 
and one-fourth, those who reach advanced age. But among 
the Gentiles, the first two hundred and fifty that die, will 
■ reach an average age of six years and eleven months ; while 
among the Jews, the first quarter will die at an average 
age of twenty-eight years and three months. Among the 
Gentiles the one-half who attain to middle age, will die at 
an average age of twenty-six years and six months; among 
the Jews the same portion will reach an average age of 
fifty -three years and one' month. Among the Gentiles, the 
last quarter, who live longest, will die at an average age 
ot fifty -nine years and ten months; while the same class 
among the Jews will live to an average age of seventy- 
one years. 

Further, not only is the death rate less among "the 
scattered nation," but the oirth rate is greater. Dr Pres- 
sel states that, in his district, the number of Jewish births 
reached an annual average of fifty-five per thousand, while 
the Gentile births were only thirty-eight per thousand ; 
and the ecclesiastical registers of Prussia also show, that 
among one hundred thousand Gentile births one hundred 
and forty-three children were still-born, while among an 
equal number of Jews the still-born were only eighty-nine. 

Carefully prepared statistics show that the infant mor- 
tality is nearly twice as great among Gentiles as among 



* 'THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 1 5 

the Jews ; and that while among the adult Gentiles the 
period of the greatest frequency of deaths comes between 
the ages of twenty and twenty-four, during which time, 
6.2 per cent, or sixty-two out of every thousand, die ; among 
adult Jews the period of the greatest mortality occurs 
between the ages of seventy and seventy-four; during which 
time 11.4 per cent, or one hundred and fourteen out of 
every thousand, die. The next largest death rate among 
the Gentiles, falls between the years of sixty-Jive and sixty- 
nine, when, out of the little remnant of the original thou- 
sand taken as a basis of computation, sixty persons, or 
six per cent, die; while from the much larger body of 
Jews yet remaining, an average of seventy-two die during 
the corresponding period. The previous period, be- 
tween the years of sixty and sixty-four, shows a still 
more marked contrast, for while the deaths among the 
Gentiles are only fifty -four out of the original thousand, 
the mortality among the Jews is ninety-five. Thus it ap- 
pears that of the Gentiles, far more die in early life, 
while of the Jews, far more die in old age. 

According to the statistics of Frankfort, Germany, the 
death rate of infants under four years old, is, among the 
Gentiles 241 per thousand, among the Jews 129 per thou- 
sand. Passing to the other extreme of life we find that 
between the ages of sixty and seventy-nine, of the original 
thousand Gentiles two hundred and eleven die; while dur- 
ing the same period, of the original thousand Jews, three 
hundred and seventy-two deaths occur. Hence it appears 
that while the number of premature deaths among the 
Gentiles, is vastly larger than among the Jews, the num- 
ber of those who die at "a good old age" is much greater 
among the Jews than it is among the Gentiles. 

These computations are borne out by the ecclesiastical 
registers of Prussia, between the years 1823 and 1841. 
From these it appears that there died on an average, annu- 
ally, one in thirty-four Gentiles, and only one in forty-six 







"THE MISTAKES 0# MOSES. 5 * 



Of the children born among the Gentiles, forty- 
four and a half per cent reached the age of fourteen, but 
among the Jews fifty per cent reached that age. Among 
the Gentiles only twelve per cent reached the age of seventy, 
while among the Jews twenty per cent reached that age. 
These conclusions are carefully drawn from reliable sta- 
tistics, and accord with the statements of Dr. Pressel, 
and show that the learned French physician, Dr. M. Levy, 
is abundantly justified in concluding that while the aver- 
age term of life among the Gentiles is twenty-six years, 
among the Jews it is thirty-seven* 

Hence, while the beer-drinking, whiskey-loving, pork- 
eating Gentile dies, on an average, at the age of twenty- 
six, the Jew, giving heed to the teachings of Moses, adds 
nearly one-half to the length of his days, having an aver- 
age of eleven years longer to enjoy life, attend to business, 
and acquire property. Is it any wonder that, as a rule, 
Jews excel the Gentiles in whatever they undertake? 

Dr. Gibbon, a health officer of London, reports that 
the life of the Jew in London is, on an average, twice as 

*The following table, drawn by Neufville, was derived from the official 
registers of Frankfort, Germany, between the years 1846 and 1848: — 



COMPARATIVE TABLE OF MORTALITY AMONG JEWS AND GENTILES. 

Gentiles. Jews. 

24.1 per cent 12.9 per cent. 



Age. 
1-4 years, 

5-9 " 

10-14 " 

15-19 " 

20-24 " 

25-29 " 

30-34 " 

35-39 " 

40-44 " 

45-49 " 

50-54 " 

55-59 " 

60-64 " 

65-69 " 

70-74 " 

75-79 " 

80-84 " 

85-89 " 

90-94 " 
95-100" 



2.3 
1.1 

3.4 ' 

6.2 ' 

6.2 ' 
4.8 ' 
5.8 ' 
5.4 ' 
5.6 ' 

4.6 ' 

5.7 ! 
5.4 ( 
6.0 ' 
5.4 ' 

4.3 ( 
2.6 ' 
0.9 < 
0.16' 
0.04' 



0.4 
1.5 
3.0 
4.2 
4.6 
3.4 
6.1 
4.6 
5.3 
3.8 
6.1 
9.5 
7.2 
11.4 
9.1 
5.0 
1.5 
0.4 



"the mistakes OP MOSES." 7 

long as the life of the Gentile. The medical officer of 
one of their large schools has remarked that Jewish chil- 
dren do not die in anything like the same ratio as the 
children of the Gentiles. In the district of Whitechapel, 
the medical officer in his report states that on the north 
side of High street, which is occupied by Jews, the aver- 
age death rate is twenty-seven per thousand ; while on the 
south side, occupied by English and Irish, the average 
death rate is forty-three per thousand. 

In drawing our conclusions from the statistics of Jew- 
ish and Gentile longevity, certain facts should be kept 
in mind. First, among the Gentiles are included all true 
Christians, who as a rule live much longer than the peo- 
ple around them; showing that the influence of the 
Christian religion is decidedly promotive of longevity.! 
In the case of the Jews, multitudes of whom are far gone 
in apostasy from God, and void of spiritual life, the ex- 
ternal and ceremonial rites of the law have special influ- 
ence. In the case of Christians, the life-promoting influ- 
ences are more specially spiritual and internal. Hence, 
to form a true estimate of the influence of divine reve- 
lation upon human life, we should combine with the 
Jewish statistics, the statistics of all communities and 
individuals distinctively and really Christian, and we 
should thus still further depress the Gentile average of 
life, and show that the law of Moses and the gospel of 
Christ are loth favorable to longevity. 

We may take, for example, the statistics of the Society 
of Friends. While the average length of human life in 
all countries is about 28 years, and one-fourth of all who 
die do not reach the age of seven, one-half dying before 
they reach the age of 17, yet the average life of the 
Friends living in Great Britain, in 1860, was fifty-nine 
years. A few years since, the dram-sellers of Great Brit- 
ain, indignant at their failure to obtain life-insurance at 
ordinary rates, organized a company of their own, and 



8 U THE MISTAKES OF MOSES." 

insured themselves; but such was the enormous death 
rate among their membership, that the concern was soon 
forced into bankruptcy. On the other hand, in the Soci- 
ety of Friends, who, in the simplicity of their ordinary 
life, may be supposed to conform more closely to Chris- 
tian precepts than most religious bodies, insurance com- 
panies exist whose tables show that the average life-time, 
or ." expectation of life" at birth, is, in the case of a 
male Friend, 45.34 years, the mean amount of the gen- 
eral public being 40. 86 years. In the case of females, 
the difference was less, that of the Friends being 45.72, 
and that of the general public, 42.16. But the average 
age of Friends proves to be higher than this, it having 
varied in recent years from slightly over fifty-one years 
to fifty-eight years. A summary and analysis of the ages 
of deceased members, extending for more than thirty 
years, show that out of 940 deaths there were 163 per- 
sons under the age of 30 at death ; 224 deaths between 
the ages of 30 and 60; 517 who died between the ages of 
60 and 90 ; and 39 who died at the age of 90 or above, 
five being reputed centenarians. 

Such facts seem to indicate that however the racial 
energy of the Israelites tends to prolong life, results 
equally marked can be reached in people of other line- 
age, by observance of the principles contained in the 
gospel, through successive generations. 

In the case of the Friends, it may be said that thrift 
and sobriety have resulted in a state of temporal prosper- 
ity, which is favorable to longevity ; and this is admitted, 
for obedience to God tends to temporal prosperity ; but 
no such considerations affect the question of Jewish lon- 
gevity, for they have labored under great temporal dis- 
abilities and disadvantages, and in this respect have been 
less favorably situated than their Gentile neighbors. 

Kighteousness tencleth to life. It is the "hoary head" 
which ' 'is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of 



"TIIE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 77 9 

righteousness.' 7 The scenes of revelry, profanity, and 
vice are thronged by the young. There are very few 
1 'old fogies" there ; there are very few there who ever will 
oe old. Look over an old and long-established church, 
and see how many gray-headed and aged men and women 
are scattered through it. Then look over a crowd of 
skeptics and blasphemers, and see how many faces bear 
the marks of youth, or of that premature old age produced 
by vice and sin. Not every infidel dies young, for there 
are many who inherit the constitutional vigor and the 
Christian training of parents who feared God. But as a 
rule, men who reject divine restraint, never see old age; 
they go down to the grave in their brown hair. Skeptics 
may mock at the Scripture which declares that the 
"wicked shall not live out half their days, 7 ' that they are 
"like the chaff which the wind driveth away; " but the 
'pitiless death rate which shows that the average term of 
life among Gentiles is only twenty-six years, tells a story . 
which may well cause candid people to pause and pon- 
der their ways. And the fact that the Jews, with 
their partial obedience to divine law, extend the period 
of human life one-third, while a still higher average is 
reached by people who seek to live in obedience to the 
precepts of the gospel, should convince candid men that 
"the fear of the Lord tendeth to life," and that He who 
made man, also made that Book which teaches him how to 
live, and which, by its teachings, promotes both health 
and prosperity wherever it is observed. 

The Jew was commanded to abstain from swine's flesh, 
and was strong, pure-blooded, and healthful. The Gen- 
tile eats it, and finds himself saturated with humors, 
infested with tape-worms, and permeated with myriads 
of wriggling trichinae, which perforate his flesh and 
destroy his life. 

The Jew was forbidden to mar even the corners of his 
bje^rd, and as a race, consumption is unknown among 



10 "the mistakes OF MOSES." 

them ; while the Gentile, year after year, scrapes his face 
with a razor, removing the protection which God gave for 
his respiratory and vocal organs, and then, after years of 
feebleness and distress, dies of laryngitis, bronchitis, or 
pulmonary consumption. 

The more we study the law of Moses, in its relation to 
health, and in its various provisions which long ago antic- 
ipated the sanitary science of our day — in its system of 
dietetics, in its convocations and feasts, in its purifica- 
tions and its varied restrictions which touch the social 
life at every point — we shall be amazed at the wisdom 
manifested in that ancient law, as exhibited in its safe- 
guards against vice, disorder, and disease. 

From its initiatory rite, the seal of the covenant, which 
was in itself a protection against self-abuse and disease, 
down to the close of life, the Jewish law sedulously 
guarded the physical health of the people ; and even the 
laws concerning the dead exhibit the same divine wisdom. 
Modern times have afforded instances where persons, 
in their misguided affection, have pressed the cold lips 
of the dead, and taken thence disease which has laid 
them in the grave ; and it is well known that the slight- 
est wound inflicted by a dissecting instrument, almost 
inevitably produces death. Against such sad conse- 
quences, the Mosaic law most carefully guarded the 
Israelites. Contrary to the usages of the eastern world, 
where the dead were sometimes embalmed and preserved, 
or where the living and the dead were consumed together 
in the flames, the Jews were taught that death was a 
curse, that its presence was defiling, that the living were 
to be carefully separated from the dead, and that any 
person who touched a dead body thereby became unclean, 
and was not allowed to touch any other person or thing 
until he had passed a period of separation, and had been 
thoroughly bathed. Modern science cannot fail to recog- 
nize the utility of such restrictions ; and many precious 



"THE MISTAKES OF MOSES." 11 

lives might have been saved by paying attention to the 
sanitary instructions which are embodied in the Mosaic law. 
Skeptics may prate about the mistakes of Moses, but it 
would be difficult to find a greater mistake than they 
make, when they undertake to sit in judgment on a law 
which they have never studied, and the reasons for which 
they are not yet wise enough to comprehend. The most 
advanced science of our times, has not yet reached the 
plane that Moses occupied, and we may still, with Israel's 
Psalmist, exclaim, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may 
behold wondrous things out of thy law. 7 ' 

THE WORLD'S FIRST REPUBLIC. 

We are indebted to Moses, a native of Egypt, brought 
up amid the splendors of the court of the Pharaohs, and 
inheriting only traditions of tyranny on the part of the 
rulers, and slavery on the part of the ruled, for the 
world's first example of a " government of the people, 
oy the people, and for the people." This first repub- 
lic known to history, consisting of the Twelve United 
States of Israel, established and organized in the desert, 
on the basis of universal suffrage, the election of offi- 
cers by the people, representation by elder 's, or alder- 
men, selected from the people, with inferior judges, and 
courts of last appeal, was finally planted in Canaan, the 
land being divided in fee-simple among all the peoph, 
one-twelfth of whom were selected and appointed to care 
for the education and enlightenment of the nation ; one- 
tenth of their increase and of the produce of the land being 
set apart for their support in their educational and relig- 
ious work. • 

This federated nation, thus established, with an organic 
law, a written constitution, and a form of government 
wiser and more humane than any which the world had 
known; which guarded the rights of rich and poor, small 
and great, servants and masters, rulers and people, wiveg 



12 "THE MISTAKES OF MOSES." 

and husbands, captives and conquerors, protecting even 
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, and pro- 
viding for the proper tillage of the soil, and the preserva- 
tion of trees, seeds, and fruits, — was the pattern upon 
which all stable popular governments have been based. 
And in its sedulous care for the moral and religious charac- 
ter of the people, who were brought under personal subjec- 
tion to a holy God, whose presence was ever near them, 
and to a righteous law, in which they were to meditate day 
and night, and which they were commanded to diligently 
teach to their children, by the fireside and by the way- 
side, this law of Moses provided for that moral training, 
and developed that personal character, which, fitting 
men for liberty by the exercise of self-government, fur- 
nished the only alternative between tyranny and oppres- 
sion on the one hand, and anarchy and misrule on the 
other. 

This nation, planted in the land of Israel and separated 
by natural barriers from the surrounding nations, was, 
so long as it observed the law of Moses, enabled to main- 
tain its integrity, and resist the encroachments of sur-_ 
rounding powers ; and so stood for centuries, a beacon- 
light in the midst of a dark and idolatrous age, the only 
nation on the globe which was exempt from the oppres- 
sion of tyrannical rulers, an: 1 from those enslaving idol- 
atries which filled all other lands with intemperance, 
debauchery, cruelty, and crime ; and which, whenever they 
gained access to the Israelitish people, brought trouble 
and disaster in their train. 

The germs and types of all successful popular govern- 
ments are found in the commonwealth of Israel, which 
exhibits, first a republic, and later a constitutional mon- 
archy, the two most desirable forms of government 
known; just as the basis of all civilized common law is 
found in the commandments written on tables of stone, 
and in the book of law which God gave to Israel- Was 



"THE mistakes OF MOSES." 13 

the organization of such a government, based upon such 
law, another of "the mistakes of Moses"? 

One of the peculiarities of the law of Moses was that 
provision which prohibited the priestly tribe from pos- 
sessing real estate. They might have a house and gar- 
den, but no more. Vast possessions and broad acres 
were not for them. It is a curious fact that Moses 1 law, 
which is supposed to be at the bottom of all the priest- 
craft in creation, should contain this provision. Such a 
law never was concocted by priests. Priests, in the 
nature of things, have great influence over men ; and when 
a priesthood becomes corrupt it exercises this influence 
for selfish ends. So, great hierarchies are continually 
accumulating wealth and lands. Indeed, allow them to 
work unchecked for a few generations, and they would 
possess a large share of the property of a nation ; and in 
more than one instance, revolutions and sweeping con- 
fiscations have been necessary, to rescue the property of 
the people from the grasp of the priesthood. To-day, 
enormous amounts of wealth are in the hands of priests 
and ecclesiastics. They have not only the spiritual power 
which would naturally attach to them by virtue of their 
office, but also the power of enormous wealth, which, 
under the guise of religion, they have succeeded in accu- 
mulating. Vast buildings and immense estates, in vari- 
ous countries, belong to priestly orders; and these 
immense properties, protected by government and yet 
contributing nothing to defray its expenses, virtually 
impose a heavy tax upon the long-suffering people. 

Under Moses' law no such abuses were practicable. 
Corrupt as the Jewish priesthood became, they never 
were, as a body, accused of acquiring vast wealth. The 
law which made them dependent for their subsistence 
upon tithes and offerings which were voluntarily brought, 
and which they had no legal means of collecting, in its op- 
eration precluded the possibility of ecclesiastics acquiring 



14 "the mistakes OF MOSES." 

vast possessions, and caused them to depend for their 
influence and their support upon the virtue of their lives, 
and the generosity which they might be able to inspire 
in the hearts of those around them. Was this provision 
another of "the mistakes of Moses " ? 

One of the great occasions of complaint among the 
skeptics of to-day, is the vast accumulation of wealth in 
the hands of the few, the poor being meanwhile trodden 
down, oppressed, and impoverished. Modern civilization 
presents us with these evils : — 

First, men accumulate, inherit, and possess in perpe- 
tuity vast areas of land, for which they have no earthly 
use ; while multitudes of poor men are landless and home- 
less, and never, until they are laid in the grave, have a 
foot of soil which they can call their own. 

Secondly, men who possess wealth, by exacting inter- 
est or usury largely increase their possessions, the rich 
growing richer and the poor growing poorer, until one 
class are ruined through luxury and arrogant ungodliness, 
while the other class, through poverty and oppression, 
are ground in the very dust. 

Neither of these evils could exist where the law of 
Moses was faithfully administered. The land of Israel 
was divided by lot among the twelve tribes, and this land 
was inalienable. ' 'The land shall not be sold forever, 
for the land is mine, saith the Lord." The Almighty 
claimed the land for his own. Every family had a por- 
tion of it sufficient for their own sustenance ; the priestly 
tribes alone being excluded from this provision. Every 
child born in the land of Israel was born heir to land, and 
no unfortunate, improvident, or thriftless father could 
permanently alienate their inheritance. In case an Isra- 
elite waxed poor, he might temporarily dispose of his 
land, but no transfer which he effected could extend 
beyond the next year of jubilee, which might be ten or 
twenty or thirty years away, but which could not oe more 



"TEE ISflSTAKES OF MOSES. 1 ' 15 

than fifty years distant. Consequently, no Israelite lived 
to be fifty years old without being the possessor of landed 
property. 

This redistribution of lands under Jewish law, occur- 
ring in the jubilee year, furnished the only effective safe- 
guard against the accumulation of wealth, and the ab- 
sorption of land in great estates, which has become the 
bane and curse of modern civilization. Those reformers 
who cry out against the great accumulations of wealth, 
and clamor about the right of the landless multitudes to 
a portion of the soil from which to win their bread, act 
with strange inconsistency when they deride the law of 
Moses, which afforded the only practical and effective 
method of securing that result, — the taking of usury 
from among their brethren being expressly forbidden, and 
the accumulation of lands being prevented by this peri- 
odic redistribution. The very results which many of 
them profess to be seeking, were attained with perfect 
ease under the exercise of that law which they despise, 
and in obedience to the command of that God whom 
they blaspheme. 

Another occasion of complaint is the accumulation of 
wealth by means of usury ; the rich increasing their wealth 
without labor, and the poor in their poverty being bur- 
dened to produce and provide for this increase. But 
under the law of Moses, Israelites were strictly com- 
manded to lend to their brethren when they were in need, 
but they were to lend without usury. JSTo Jew was allowed 
to refuse his needy brother assistance, but he was strictly 
prohibited from exacting interest on any loan made to 
one of his brethren. The man who was to abide in God's 
tabernacle, and dwell in his holy hill, was one who u put- 
teth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against 
the innocent. " 

The whole law of Moses was opposed to vast accumu- 
lations, and the effect of it was to produce a diligent, 



16 "the mistakes OF MOSES. M 

thrifty, healthful, and contented people. It is true the 
Israelites were allowed to exact usury from the Gentiles 
around them, but not from their brethren, the Jews. If 
they were disposed to loan their money to the Egyptians, 
the Babylonians, or the Philistines, they were entitled 
to exact interest; but they did it at their own risk, and 
were quite likely to never see their money again; but 
among their brethren usury was forbidden. The accu- 
mulations of modern Jewish capitalists result from their 
exile from their own land, and their dealings with the 
nations around them, unrestrained by the laws which 
ruled the Israelites in their dealings with each other; 
and also from the oppression and insecurity to which 
they have been subject, which has debarred them from 
the ordinary pursuits of civilized life, and compelled 
them to keep their possessions in portable form, ready 
for flight, and thus made them the money-changers and 
usurers of the world. 

Here then we find some of the greatest evils which 
oppress the nations of the present time, anticipated and 
provided for by the law of Moses. Once in fifty years 
there was, under Jewish law, substantially a redistribu- 
tion of lands. Usury being forbidden, there was no oppor- 
tunity for accumulating wealth by that means. Houses in 
cites, it is true, might be alienated and sold forever, but 
still the woe of God was pronounced upon men who 
joined house to house and field to field that they might 
dwell alone in the earth. The tendency of the Jewish 
law was to scatter the people over the land, and make 
them independent, self-reliant, and free. And if the 
poor, ignorant men, pressed beneath the grinding burdens 
of modern civilization, and ignorant of the wisdom and 
righteousness of God, who sit in beer-shops or halls dis- 
cussing the ''mistakes of Moses," and complaining of 
the hardships and burdens which they endure, could only 
be planted amid the vine-clad hills and beautiful valleys 



"THE mistakes OF MOSES." 17 

of Palestine, under a law so wise, beneficent, and kind 
as that which Moses gave to Israel, they would be aston- 
ished at the peace and plenty which surrounded them, 
and would wonder that they had for so long spoken evil 
of things which they knew not of. 

REST DAYS AND JUBILEES. 

There is a remarkable wisdom exhibited in the adapta- 
tion of divine ordinances to human needs. In nature, 
everything seems arranged to serve the desired purpose. 
The length of the summer is adjusted to the time requi- 
site to ripen the products of the soil ; the duration of 
winter is also adjusted to human necessities. If a winter 
should extend itself during the period of two or three 
years, we can easily see that it would result in the star- 
vation and extermination of all human beings, and also 
of the animal creation ; if the heat of summer were pro- 
tracted, drouth, enervation, and disease would be the 
result. But the divine promise of summer, winter, seed- 
time, and harvest, does not fail, and hence, man's existence 
is perpetuated. 

A remarkable instance of wise adaptation is seen in the 
weekly rest day which the Lord ordained. Many men 
disregard this ordinance and cast it aside as of no 
account, but it is nevertheless a divine arrangement, 
wrought into the very constitution of human nature. 
Man's physical and mental well-being are dependent 
upon the observance of the weekly rest. Neglect of it 
produces exhaustion, debility, and premature decay, both 
of body and mind. Many a man who has given his mind 
no rest, finds himself wrecked and in the mad-house as 
the result; and those perform the most* bodily labor, 
who insist upon enjoying the weekly day of rest. 

I recollect hearing Lord Shaftesbury speak in London, 
of attending a Costermonger's Exhibition of the donkeys 
with which they drag about their little barrows of 



18 "TEE mistakes OP MOSES." 

provisions and merchandise. He said there were fifty don- 
keys exhibited, looking as sleek and beautiful as if they 
had come out of the Queen's stables ; and the men told him, 
without his asking them, every one of these donkeys had 
each week, twenty-four consecutive hours of rest, and, as 
a consequence, they could travel thirty miles a day, with 
their loads, for six days in a week, while donkeys which 
were driven seven days in the week, could not travel 
more than fifteen miles a day. 

Of course a skeptic would sneer at the idea that relig- 
ion and divine revelation had anything to do with don- 
keys ; or that donkeys had any concern in the law of 
God. But the Creator understood very well what was 
good for a donkey, and so he put the donkey into the 
commandment: "The seventh day is the sabbath of the 
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, 
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor 
thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of 
thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates." 
Deut. v. 14. The Lord well knew that a donkey would 
do more work in a week if he worked six days, than he 
would if he worked seven days. He made provision 
that the donkey should have his weekly rest. 

Whatever opinion men may hold concerning the per- 
petuity of sabbatic laws in the change of dispensations, 
man's physical constitution remains unchanged; and 
every law which has its foundation and justification in 
the nature of things, is worthy of the most careful and 
reverent consideration. They who violate the laws of 
existence must be prepared to accept their penalties. 

It is a curious fact that after man has overworked and 
become wearied and exhausted, from the neglect of the 
appointed times of rest, when at last he is sinking under 
disease, and the frantic struggles of the powers of nature 
take the form of a fever, this same law of sevens mani- 
fests itself in the process of restoration. His fever runs 



"the mistakes OF MOSES." 19 

seven clays, and then turns; or if nature is not able to 
recover herself at that point, the struggle goes on for 
another seven days; and if the fever does not then turn, it 
must run another seven days. Fevers do not turn on the 
fourth, or fifth, or sixth day. All I lie doctors and skep- 
tics in creation cannot make fevers turn at any other 
point, except at the seventh day. This shows that the 
law of sevens is so wrought into the very constitution of 
man, that he cannot escape its control. It is a part of 
himself; and whether he believes it or disregards it, he 
is still bound by this universal law. The human consti- 
tution is like an eight-day clock. It needs to be wound 
up regularly once a week, and the day of rest alfords oppor- 
tunity of doing it. And any one who will study the con- 
stitution of mankind, will find this law, dividing human 
life into periods of one, two, three, and four sevens of 
days, is a universal law, controlling human existence 
from its beginning to its end. 

It will also be remembered that the years under the law 
of Moses were marked off in periods of sevens; each sev- 
enth year being a sabbatic year, or year of rest. That 
law is not now in force, and we disregard the hints and 
intimations it contains; but we do it to our own disad- 
vantage; and so instead of an orderly and anticipated 
year of rest, we rush and drive and hurry until our con- 
stitutions break down, health declines, busi:.ess becomes 
stagnant, and after a year or two of struggle, we find 
ourselves involved in panic, failure, and financial ruin. 
Statistics show that for the last one hundred and fifty 
years panics and financial crises have occurred as often as 
once in ten years. Doubtless in every instance, a restful 
observance of a sabbatic year, affording time to adjust 
affairs, and clear the troubled currents of business, 
might have prevented these periodic calamities, by which 
so many arc both physically and financially ruined. 

But whether we regard this divine arrangement 



SO ^THE MISTAKES OF MOSfiS.'* 

of sabbatic years or not, we cannot eradicate from 
our constitutions the necessity for such periodic relaxa- 
tion, nor can we free ourselves from this septennial law. 
We may hold what opinions we will, nevertheless infancy 
will end about the seventh year; childhood will termi- 
nate with the fourteenth; manhood will come with the 
twenty-first ; the thirty-fifth year will find man in his 
prime ; the forty-ninth will show the commencement of 
decay ; the sixty-third will still be a critical period, when 
man should exercise great care over his physical health; 
and the seventieth year will mark the bounds of ordinary, 
normal life. 

Now, whatever theories we may hold, we cannot alter 
these facts. Nor can any reasonable man deny that the 
human constitution is built upon this plan, and that now, 
as in the days of " Moses, the man of God," "The days 
of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by 
reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their 
strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut off, and we 
fly away." Ps. xc. 10. We may abridge our own exist- 
ence ; and the wicked, by doing violence to nature's laws, 
may not live out half their days ; but by conforming our 
lives to the divine order, we may approximate the period 
of existence ordained of God. 

It may be noted that the fiftieth year, the conclu- 
sion of the seven sabbatic periods, was also a year of 
jubilee, — two years, instead of one, being then passed 
without labor; and it w 7 ill be remembered that from the 
age of fifty, all priests and Levites were discharged from 
further active service in the temple of the Lord. This 
peculiar crisis in human life, at the forty-ninth and 
fiftieth years, seems particularly adapted to profit by 
such an arrangement. It brings us t<? a period when 
special care is requisite to avoid breaking down, and to 
insure a green old age. Many a man, neglecting to take 
rest at this crisis in his life, breaks beneath the constant 



"the mistakes OP MOSES." 21 

strain, and dies suddenly at an age when he should have 
years of vigor and usefulness before him. 

ISRAELITES A LAW-ABIDING PEOPLE. 

Another fact may be observed The law of Moses is the 
basis of civil law among all civilized nations, and 
whoever obeys the law of Moses, and gives heed to its 
teachings, will, as a rule, be a law-abiding citizen, in any 
civilized land. And this is the explanation of the pecu- 
liar position occupied by the Jews in this respect. 
Governor Vance, of North Carolina, when pardoning the 
only Hebrew in the North Carolina penitentiary, who 
was serving a ten years' sentence for manslaughter, en- 
dorsed on the document these words, " I take pleasure in 
saying that I sign the pardon in part recognition of the 
good and law-abiding character of our Jewish citizens, 
this being the first serious case brought to my notice on 
the part of that people." 

Judge Briggs, of Philadelphia, in sentencing a Jew to 
prison for burglary, in December, 1879, said, u You are 
the first Israelite I have ever seen convicted of crime." 
No Jew was convicted of murder in the United States, 
during the first century of the nation's existence. In a 
speech delivered at the Hebrew Fair, in Boston, General 
B. F. Butler said, 4 'For forty years save one I have been 
conversant with the criminal courts of Massachusetts and 
many other states, and I have never yet had a Hebrew 
client as a criminal. But, you may say, that w T as because 
the Hebrews did not choose you for their lawyer. But 
this is not the true answer; for I never yet saw a verita- 
ble Israelite in the prisoner's box, for crime, in my life. 
And, thinking of this matter as I was coming here, I met 
a learned Judge in one of the highest courts of the com- 
monwealth, of more than forty years' experience at the 
bar and bench, and I put the same question to him, and 
lie said he bore witness with me to the same effect. He 



22 "the mistakes op moses." 

neither at the bar or the bench had ever seen any Hebrew 
arraigned for criine." 

The most prolific source of vice, crime, violence, dis- 
ease, insanity, and pauperism among civilized nations, is 
the use of intoxicating drinks. Against this crying evil 
various remedies are proposed, such as total abstinence 
from all intoxicants, and legal enactments to discourage 
and prevent their use. 

Among his other "mistakes," Moses anticipated these 
measures for the prevention of crime, for we are indebted 
to Moses for the establishment of the 

FIRST TOTAL-ABSTINENCE SOCIETY 

of which history makes record, the Nazarites, who, in 
separating themselves unto the Lord, separated them- 
selves from wine and strong drink, and everything con- 
nected therewith (Num. vi. 1-4.); a body of men among 
whom may be counted Samson the athlete, Samuel the 
righteous judge, and John the Baptist, than whom, of 
those that are born of women, no greater teacher has 
arisen. 

Moses also furnishes us the first example of stringent 
legislation against intemperance, and presents to our view 
a nation which, under his rule, for forty years trod the 
wilderness, neither drinking wine nor strong drink. 
And by making habitual drunkenness a capital offence, 
he expressed a vivid sense of the terrible enormity of this 
madness, which is a fountain of all evils, iniquities, and 
crimes. And the results of this legislation still abide in 
the temperate and orderly character of the Jewish peo- 
ple. Deut. xxi 18-21; Deut. xxix. 5, 6, 18, 19. 

Why are not our prisons crowded with Jewish criminals, 
our streets thronged with Jewish beggars, our alms- 
houses filled with Jewish drunkards and paupers ? 
Every one knows that they are filled with people from 
whom the Bible has been withheld, or who have never 



"the mistakes OP MOSES." 23 

been permitted to peruse and study the law of Moses and 
the teachings of the prophets and apostles. Surely 
the thousands of criminals who have had no Bibles to 
read, or who have been unable to read them, have not 
found their way to prison by following "the mistakes of 
Moses." 

Why did not the Jews in the dark ages die of the 
plagues and epidemics, as other people did? Why was it 
that the ignorant multitudes, from whom the Bible was 
withheld, slaughtered the Jews, falsely charging them 
with practicing enchantment to ward off disease from 
themselves, and poisoning the wells to kill off their Gentile 
neighbors? Why are the Jews almost entirely exempt from 
consumption, cholera, croup, typhus, scrofula, and all 
immoral diseases? Do they owe this immunity to u the 
mistakes of Moses? " If so, would not other people be 
profited by accepting some of these "mistakes?" 

Such are some of the results of a partial observance of 
tr>3 law of Moses, even by a rebellious and apostate people, 
who for their sins have been dispersed as exiles and 
wanderers in all the earth, a perpetual monument of 
the displeasure of the Most High. And it appears that 
this nation, apostate as it is through the rejection of its 
own Messiah and of the prophets who foretold his com- 
ing; though destitute of spiritual life, and severed from 
the blessings of the covenant, finds, even in its very im- 
perfect observance of this law, such benefits as place it 
at the head of all nations, in physical, mental, and moral 
vigor. And if there be such vigor in the sapless branches 
of the Jewish olive-tree, what would they have teen had 
they still continued to partake of the strength and fatness 
of the living root? Rom. vii. 17-24 

And if, in their apostasy and affliction and covetous- 
ness and sin, while they are a hissing and a by- word in 
the earth, they yet exhibit such wonderful qualities, what 
might have been their characteristics had they walked in 



24 "the mistakes of moses." 

all the commandments and ordinances of God, blameless? 
Should not their peace then have been like a river, and 
their righteousness like the waves of the sea? and should 
they not have become in truth a holy nation, a kingdom of 
priests, honored and blessed above all the nations and 
peoples of the earth? Exod. xix. 5, 6. 

If the law of Moses will diminish crime, reduce pauper- 
ism, empty prisons, and extend the average period of 
life from one-third to one-half, is it not worth the atten- 
tion of people who are suffering, dosing, doctoring, and 
sickening and dying on every hand, while the Jews are 
living on in health and strength and prosperity? 

In Great Britain, where skepticism prevails widely 
among the masses, and where the 4 'mistakes of Moses" are 
discussed in club-rooms, beer-shops, gin-palaces, and pub- 
lic halls, it is said that one person in every eleven is a lunatic, 
a criminal, a pauper, or a drunkard. Would not these 
modern skeptics do well to study Moses' law? They 
might find that "the fear of the Lord" is, indeed, "the 
beginning of wisdom;" that' the law against which they 
rail and blaspheme was one of the choicest gifts that God 
ever bestowed upon man; and that it was no idle ques- 
tion which Moses asked when he said, "What nation is 
there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the 
Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ? 
And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and 
judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you 
this dayf 1 Deut. iv. 7, 8. And they might see that there 
was the truest wisdom in the counsel of the wise man, 
who said, "My son, forget not my law; but let thine 
heart keep my commandments : for length of days, and 
l&ng life, and peace shall they add to iliee." Pro v. iii. 1, 2. 

THE PROPHECY OF MOSES CONCERNING ISRAEL. 

"In fifty years," said Napoleon Bonaparte, "all the 
world will be Cossack or Republican." Napoleon was a 



"the mistakes OP MOSES." 25 

man of rare intelligence, and unusual foresight ; but more 
than fifty years have passed, and Napoleon Bonaparte's 
prophecy remains unfulfilled. The uncertainties of the 
future furnish a wide field and ample opportunities for 
mistakes of every kind. Every unfinished enterprise, 
every unprofitable venture, every disappointed expecta- 
tion, every frustrated plan, is an illustration of the mis- 
takes into which men thus fall. If men who devote their 
time to the discussion of "the mistakes of Moses" could 
be persuaded into spending an hour in telling us what 
the state of the weather would be ten days hence, or what 
would be the course of political events for the next six 
months, they would soon have mistakes enough of their 
own to attend to, without worrying themselves about 
' 'the mistakes of Moses. " These men show their wisdom 
in refraining from any such attempts ; but Moses was not 
equally cautious. He undertook to tell the children of 
Israel what they were to do and what they w*ere to suffer 
during centuries and generations to come; minutely fore- 
telling their apostasy, and the calamities which it would 
entail upon them; the invasions, the sieges, the suffer- 
ings, the captivities, and the dispersions which they 
should endure, and which they have endured and are 
now enduring in consequence of their departure from 
God, and their rejection of his holy law. An undertak- 
ing so bold as this affords skeptics a most favorable op- 
portunity to investigate and find out "the mistakes of 
Moses." Unfortunately, they seem to put forth no efforts 
in this direction. But for the benefit of our readers we 
propose to make amends for their neglect, by calling 
attention to a number of specific prophecies uttered by 
Moses regarding the future of Israel. At a time when 
human wisdom was utterly unable to divine whether the 
Jewish nation would fear God or worship idols, enjoy 
prosperity or endure adversity, or whether, in fact, the 
nation would succeed in so much as maintaining its 



26 "the mistakes of moses." 

existence in the land of Canaan, — before a single tribe had 
entered the borders of that promised land, and when no 
mortal could tell whether their invasion would* be suc- 
cessful, or whether they would be defeated and discom- 
fited, — Moses uttered his prophecies concerning the future 
character and destiny of that nation ; prophecies which 
have not yet exhausted their force, and the fulfillment of 
which is still visible to ail nations of the earth. Let the 
reader then turn to Deuteronomy xxviii., and read the 
prophecy concerning the future of Israel : lie will there 
find the promise that if Israel hearkened to observe and 
do all the commandments of God, the Lord would set 
theni on high, above all nations of the earth, and bless 
them in their cities, in their fields, in their offspring, 
their fruits, their flocks, and their herds, and in their 
basket and store, until all the people of the earth should 
recognize them as blessed and saved of the Lord. 

On the contrary, if they departed from God and refused 
to obey his law, all imaginable evils should come upon 
them. They should be cursed in their cities, in their 
fields, in their fruits and their increase, and in all that 
they did; they should suffer from pestilence and calam- 
ity; they should be smitten before their foes, and should 
be removed into all the king doms of the earth ; their wives 
should be outraged, their houses and vineyards taken 
from them, their cattle driven away, their sons and daugh- 
ters given unto other people, their fruits eaten up by 
strangers, and they should be oppressed and crushed 
alway, so that they should be maddened at the sight of 
their eyes which they should see. They were also to be 
subjected to the tyranny of other rulers, and become an 
astonishment, a proverb, and a by -word among all na- 
tions whither the Lord should lead them. They were to 
be besieged by nations coming from afar, whose language 
they did not understand ; and who should rob and ravag 
their land, and besiege them in all their gates, with such 



"the mistakes OF MOSES." 27 

stiaitness and distress that tender and delicate men and 
women should secretly eat the flesh of their own chil- 
dren in the siege and straitness wherewith they should 
be distressed. They were to be sent again into Egypt, 
not through the desert, but by ships, and sold for bond- 
men until no man should buy them ; they were to be scat- 
tered among all people, from one end of the earth even unto 
the other, and find no ease nor rest, but a trembling heart 
and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind until life should 
hang in doubt, and they should be in fear day and night, 
until, "In the morning thou shait say, Would God it were 
even, and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morn- 
ing! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, 
and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.' 

This is a part of the prophecy of Moses concerning the 
destiny of Israel, and if the skeptic will study the his- 
tory of that nation, as given by Josephus and others, 
from its conquest by the Assyrians and Babylonians down 
to the overthrow of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the 
Jews were carried to Egypt and elsewhere, and sold till 
the slave marts of the world were glutted; and if he will 
then follow the record of the oppressions, spoliations, 
imprisonments, confiscations, tortures, persecutions and 
banishments which the Jews have been forced to suffer 
for 1800 years, and which within our own times have 
broken out afresh in all their atrocity, he will then, after 
trying his own hand at predicting the course of events 
for twenty or thirty years to come, and waiting to see 
the fulfillment, be in a position to estimate more accu- 
rately the character of Moses, the man of God, and to ex- 
press an intelligent opinion concerning his "mistakes." 

HOSES'- PROPHECY CONCERNING HIS SUCCESSOR. 

Passing from the prophecy of Moses concerning the 
Jewish nation, we notice another most remarkable pre- 
diction which he recorded in the following words: "The 



28 "the mistakes op moses." 

Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from 
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him 
shall ye hearken. . . I will raise them up a Prophet 
from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my 
words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto them all 
that I shall command him." Deut xviii 15-18. For 
more than fourteen hundred years this prophecy remained 
unfulfilled, though the Jewish nation was constantly 
watching for the Prophet whose coming was thus fore- 
told. When John appeared, preaching in the wilderness 
of Judea, the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusa- 
lem to ask him, u Who art thou?" and when he said, U I 
am not the Christ," they asked him, u What then? art 
thou Elias? and he saith, I am not. Art thou that 
Prophet? And he answered, No." . . . "And they 
asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou, then, 
if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, nor tliat Prophet?" 
At length One did come, whose character and acts so 
fulfilled this prediction that the wondering multitudes 
who heard his words, and among whom he divided the 
barley loaves, said "This is of a truth that Prophet that . 
should come into the world." John i. 25; vi. 14. 

The following points of similarity between Moses and 
Christ may somewhat indicate to the candid reader the 
truthfulness of the prediction of the great Lawgiver, that 
a prophet like unto him should arise: 

1. Moses was born of poor parents, under the reign of 
Pharaoh, a cruel and oppressive tyrant ; like him, Christ 
was born in poverty, and under the reign of Herod, who 
was also a cruel oppressor. 

2. Moses was persecuted in infancy, and doomed to 
die, by Pharaoh ; Christ was also persecuted in infancy, 
by Herod, who "sought the young child's life." 

3. Moses was wonderfully preserved in Egypt by provi- 
dential interposition, while other infants were destroyed ; 
liks him, Christ, by providential interposition, escaped 



U THE MISTAKES OP MOSES." 29 

the wrath of Herod, by whose command the infants of 
Bethlehem were slain. 

4. Moses, notwithstanding all his wisdom and learn- 
ing, spent years of his life toiling as a humble laborer, a 
shepherd in the wilderness of Midian, before he was 
manifested as a deliverer of Israel; like him, Christ, 
though at twelve years old the doctors were astonished 
at his wisdom, was yet subject to his parents, and toiled 
till manhood as a carpenter in Nazareth. 

5. Moses went forth from the wilderness, and was re- 
vealed to Israel by mighty signs and wonders which he 
wrought ; in like manner, Christ emerged from the car- 
penter's shop in Nazareth, and, by the miracles he 
wrought, demonstrated his divine authority. 

6. Moses fasted forty days upon the mountain top in 
the wilderness of Sinai, communing with God ; like him, 
Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness of Judea, 
tempted by Satan and ministered to by angels. 

7. Moses had the offer of high dignity as the son of 
Pharaoh's daughter, but refused the proffered honor, 
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of 
God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; like 
him. Christ spurned the offer of all the kingdoms of the 
world, and the glory of them, and condescended to be a 
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, despised and 
rejected of men. 

8. Moses was faithful as a servant, obeying all the 
commands of God ; like him, Christ, not as a servant but 
as a Son, was faithful over his house, it being his meat 
and drink to do the will of his Father that sent him. 

9. Moses delivered his people from the bondage of 
Egypt ; like him, Christ came to deliver men from the 
bondage of sin and corruption, to proclaim the opening 
of prison-doors, to break every yoke, and to set the cap- 
tives free. 

10. By his wonder-working power Moses had control 



30 "the mistakes OP MOSES." 

over the very elements, and divided the sea whose waves 
roared ; like him, Christ was able to rebuke the winds 
and the waves, saying, 4 'Peace, be still ! and there was a 
great calm." 

11. Moses was the founder of a state, the first republic 
the world ever knew ; like him, Christ was the founder 
of a vast community of equal brethren, which has since 
spread into all parts of the world. 

12. Moses, unlike other prophets, was permitted to 
talk with God, face to face upon the mountain ; like him, 
Christ had personal communion with the Father, as no 
other prophet ever had. 

13. Moses had such fellowship with God upon the 
mount that his face shone with glory, and required to be 
veiled ; like him, Christ prayed on a mountain until he 
was transfigured in the presence of his disciples, and his 
raiment was white as the light, and his face did shine 
like the sun. 

14. Moses foretold the future history of the people of 
Israel, and of the world, and his predictions have been 
accomplished, and are known to be true ; like him, Christ 
foretold the future destiny of his church in the world, 
and the predictions which he uttered have been fulfilled, 
and are being fulfilled to-day. 

15. Moses led Israel through the desert, while manna 
was showered from heaven to satisfy their wants ; like 
him, Christ repeatedly fed thousands who were faint 
and hungry in the wilderness, and he still gives the liv- 
ing bread, the bread of God, to satisfy his hungry people. 

16. Moses smote the rock and brought forth water for 
the children of Israel who were dying with thirst; like 
Uim, Christ bestows the living water, being himself the 
smitten rock,, the Rock of &ges, cleft for the salvation of 
a lost; world; and he cries in the ears of a dying race, "If 
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink !". 

1: 17. Moses was the mediator of a covenant made between 



"the mistakes OP MOSES." 81 

God and man, a covenant sealed with blood, and 
bestowing inestimable blessings upon the people ; like him, 
Christ was the mediator of a new and better covenant, 
a covenant sealed with more precious blood, and confer- 
ing still greater benefits and blessings on those who enter 
into agreement with their Maker. 

18. Moses was very meek, above all the men upon the 
earth ; bearing Israel's provocations and faults with pa- 
tient affection and tender love ; but the meekness and 
tenderness of Christ was still greater, and his long-suffer- 
ing was more abundant. 

19. The Israelites murmured and rebelled against 
Moses, who was their best and truest friend ; and this 
also was true of Christ, for "they hated him without a 
cause." 

20. Moses lived to benefit his race, and finally died on 
account of their sins; like him, Christ spent his life in 
lowly service, and then bore the sins of men u in his own 
body on the tree" so that "with his stripes" they might 
be healed. 

21. Moses was buried by the hand of God in an un- 
known grave, and seems to have been raised up from 
death by Michael the archangel, since he appeared upon 
the mount of transfiguration in glory, with Elijah who 
had never died; like him, Christ died and was buried 
and raised again, and entered into the glory, and sits at 
God's right hand till he shall come to judge the world. 

22. Moses' greatest works were accomplished after his 
death, his law leaving its impress on the world for more 
than thirty centuries, and marking him as the most influ- 
ential man that ever lived on the globe ; like him, Christ's 
real work only commenced when his earthly career was 
finished, and in its ever-widening influence through 
eighteen hundred years, shows him to be the Son of God, 
the Saviour of the world, the mightiest being who ever 
wore the human form. 



32 "the mistakes OF MOSES. " 

23. Of Moses it is said, "There arose not a prophet 
since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew 
face to face in all the signs and the wonders which the 
Lord sent him to do." Deut. xxxiv. 10-12. Like him, 
Christ was "a prophet mighty in deed and word before 
God and all the people" (Luke xxiv. 19), "approved of 
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, 
which God did by him" (Acts ii. 22.), doing among them 
"the works which none other man did." John xv. 24. 

24. Finally, Moses was the first and only man whom 
the Lord ever authorized to give laws to Israel ; the law 
given by Moses being the only authoritative rule bestowed 
by God for the government of that nation. In li ke man- 
ner, Christ is the last and only person whom God has 
authorized to give laws for the government of mankind, 
the "one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy." 
And though the law given by Moses has been corrupted 
by the traditions of the elders, and the truth revealed in 
Christ has been perverted and distorted by his professed 
servants, yet they both still stand forth in un approached 
and unapproachable excellence, as revealers of the divine 
will to the sons of men. 

Here, then, is the prophecy of Moses of the coming of 
a Prophet like himself ; and for more than 1450 years 
the Jewish nation read and studied it, and pronounced 
it yet unfulfilled. No man had arisen in Israel like unto 
Moses, during all this time. And had the skeptic of 
to-day lived there, this would doubtless have been set 
down as one of "the mistakes of Moses," a prophecy 
uttered which had never been fulfilled. 

When Christ came, the question arose again and again, 
as he wrought his wonders, "Art thou that Prophet .*" In 
him, at last, it was seen that this prediction was fulfilled. 
We may search all the records of universal history, and 
we cannot find a man who was so much like Moses as 
was Christ, nor a man who was so much like Christ as 



"THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.'* g(} 

was Moses. And hence we are led to conclude, as we 
read he record of the life of Jesus, the prophet of Gali- 
lee, that we have found "Him of whom Moses in the 
aw and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the 
son oi Joseph." Let those men who make themselves 
merry over "the mistakes of Moses," lead such a life as 
Moses did, and leave behind them arecord of a prophecy 
such as he uttered, and then, through the perspective of 
future ages, it will be easy for later genera ions to deter 
mine whether** have spoken wisdy when discuss^ 
'the mistakes of Moses," or whether they themselves 
have not been most grievously mistaken in "their course 
Moses spoke of the Saviour and the Lawgiver that 
was to come, and the Lord declared, "It shall come to 
paes that whosoever will not hearken unto my Zris 
winch he shall speak in my name, I wi ll require it of Mm" 
Dent. X v m 19. "Him shall ye hear in all things what 
soever he shall say unto you. And it shall come 'to pat 
that every soul which mil not hear that prophet, shaToe 
d strayed from among the people." Acts k 22, 23 The 

2nt tl « M ° SeS " may be a theme for careless me^ri! 
ment, and the amusement of an idle hour W h a , 
refuses to hear that Prophet who, f MoT f^ o ^ 
find in the Great Day of accounts, that he has macTea 
£5^ and ^ WhiCh * is ^yond SsTowe; 
infl^ , -r *• H ' L ' Hastin S s ' Tra( ::s on InSJelity. 

Shoemaker ; 2. A Healthy Religion % iSSSSJ*? Cr ° C ^ h Thc Optical 
tune .ami God ; 5. The Old & &1JSJS2 ™ a rimb « 1 ^ I n J p ; 4 P Na- 
01 60 c.ts. per pound. i: GYPT * x uSSl J ; A ? T pa £ es each,2() C te. per ICO, 
Patterson. 15 eta Thf Rtt*tV?« T0RY axd Pkophecv, by Roberf 
HOXKST SKEPTICS,^; B S * ^^ £[ «^WI«8T Woi£s TO 




THE CHRISTIAN. 

EDITED BY H. L. HASTINGS. 
A LAEGE, LIVE, ILLUSTRATED 16 -PAGE MONTHLY, 

Family, Religious, Temperance Paper. 

Comprising Four Distinct Four-Page Papers. 

TU C P U D I OTI A M Containing Kecords of Providences, Answers to prayer, 
j f|t unrilu I IMIli Facts. Incidents, Poetry, Music, and choice Miscella- 
neous and reading for all classes, young and old, rich and poor, great and small. 
TUC O ACCOM A Dili With its powerful original pictures illustrating the 
I Jit wMrCuUHllUi evils of drunkenness and vice; devoted to the ad- 
vocacy of gospel temperance, sound morality, and vital and practical religion. 
TUC A D MflDVi An anti-infidel paper, devoted to the defense of the Gospel, 
I Ht AllmUllTi Bible Study, Scripture evidences, and the confutation of 
the prevailing Infidelity and Skepticism of the day. 

TLa A. mmAN Dnnnlm Illustrated, and filled with the choicest popular 
I UC UOlTirnUn I BUUlB ■ reading for persons of all classes, ages and conditions. 
It is printed from clear type, on fine book paper, and is full of true stories, 
Christian teaching, and sound common sense. Sectarianism, controversy, politics, 
advertisements, puffs, pills, and patent medicines are excluded from its columns. 

Terms, One Dollar a year, in Advance. 

Six Copies, $5 ; Twenty Copies, S12 ; In the British Empire, 4 shillings. 

To ministers, missionaries, Sunday schools, reading rooms, or for distribution, or 

as gifts to the poor or to friends, 60 cents a year. Sent three months /or 10 cts. 

Opinions of the Press. 

"An excellent Journal."— N. Y. Independent. "In every respect excellent."— 
Sabbath Recorder. " A living, earnest, tearless, pungent, and faithful religious 
naner "—Balston Journal " The most unsectarian paper m the world —Sharon 
Mirror "The nicest paper of the kind we have *een."—Peekstoll Enterprise. 
" A more than ordinarily spiritual paper."— Mission Harvester. ' ' 1 he best Chris- 
tian paperin Amevwz." -Griffin Advertiser. " A marvel of cheapness -Monthly 
Record " A first-class religious and family paper."— Steuben Republican. We 
know of no better temperance paper."— Morning Star. " The cheapest and most 
decidedly pious paper in the \and:'-Sunday Morning. " Thoroughly evangelical 
in tone"— Pacific Evangelist. " No paper coming to our table contains more 
or mirer gospel."— Our Home Journal. "Thoroughly evangelical and undenom- 
inational."-CA«rcA Union. " One of the best Chi istian papers in the country. - 
Herald of Gospel Liberty. " One of the largest and best papers published m the 
coxiutry --Labor of Love. "The best family paper published m New England. - 
Tabernacle Candlestick. " Free from denominational ism. and containing much val- 
uable I relVious Tead\n»." -Quarterly of the Y. M. C. A. of America. That excel- 
lent paper, Thf Christian. "-^4i Herald." One of the best of the American 
periodicals'."— London Christian Times. 

"Words from Workers. 

" Mv husband is very busy, as you know, but he takes the time to look through 
your paper; something he does not do to others He is much ^'^erested in the 
naner and wishes it more and more success, "-itfrs D. L.Moody. I like The 
CHmSTiANfor its uniform soundness."-Geor^ Midler. Dr. John Cummmg, of 
London, said: " An excellent paper; I wish every one would take it. Mr. C. H. 
sluraeon said, in 1875, ■ • The Christian is the best paper that comes to me. 

'M? has been a great help to me in my preaching. I have never had a number 
that 
brinj 
per f 

e^anfeto^ circulation ofyourlive^paper, I am most truly 

vours, John B. Goughr 

Ti I ■nu ftL.l^lftM.An elegant, illustrated semi-monthly paper for the 
NIG Lit IG bnnSll3n.voung; 35 cts. a year, eight copies to one address SI 

Address H. L HASTINGS, 

AseiltS Wailted. £3ri?tural Tract Repository, 

Ageuwa ty «^wv«.. ^ CornhUlj Boston) Mass. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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